1993 Burundian coup attempt

1993 Burundian coup d'état attempt

Burial of President Melchior Ndadaye, who was killed during the coup attempt
Date	21 October–November 1993
Location	Bujumbura, Burundi
Type	Military coup
Cause	Ethnic tensions between Hutus and Tutsis Election of Hutu Melchior Ndadaye as President in June 1993
Motive	Regime change
Outcome	Coup fails Assassination of Melchior Ndadaye and other officials Reinstatement of the civilian-led government Outbreak of ethnic violence and the Burundian Civil War
Casualties
Numerous government officials and family members killed

History of Burundi
Urewe civilisation Hutu, Tutsi and Twa origins
Kingdom of Burundi German East Africa 1891–1919 Ruanda-Urundi 1922–1962 Ruzagayura famine 1943–1944
Road to independence Parliamentary election 1961 Prince Rwagasore assassination 1961 Independence 1962
Burundi 1962–present Army coup attempt 1965 Ndizeye coup Jul 1966 Micombero coup Nov 1966 Genocidal killings of Hutus 1972 Bagaza coup 1976 Buyoya coup, 1st 1987
Burundian Civil War Army coup attempt 1993 Genocidal killings of Tutsis 1993 Buyoya coup, 2nd 1996 Titanic Express massacre 2000 Army coup attempt 2001 Itaba massacre 2002
Current Second Congo War 1998–2003 Burundian unrest 2015–2018 Army coup attempt 2015 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–present
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On 21 October 1993, a coup was attempted in Burundi by a Tutsi–dominated army faction. The coup attempt resulted in assassination of Hutu President Melchior Ndadaye and the deaths of other officials in the constitutional line of presidential succession. François Ngeze was presented as the new President of Burundi by the army, but the coup failed under domestic and international pressure, leaving Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi in charge of the government.

Following a long period of military rule by Tutsi army officers, in the early 1990s Burundi underwent a democratic transition. In June 1993 presidential and parliamentary elections were held and won by the Hutu-dominated Front pour la Démocratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), displacing the ruling Union pour le Progrès National (UPRONA) and President Pierre Buyoya. A new coalition government was installed on 10 July with FRODEBU leader Ndadaye as Burundi's first Hutu president. Ndadaye's tenure was largely peaceful, but during his time in office Burundi was subject to several social and political disruptions. Thousands of Burundian Hutu refugees who had fled previous political violence returned to the country en masse, while the government reconsidered various contracts and economic concessions made by the previous regimes and began reforming the army. These actions threatened the interest of Tutsi business elites and military officers. In this atmosphere, elements in the army began planning a coup. The exact identity of those who led the plot remains unknown, though Ngeze, Army Chief of Staff Jean Bikomagu, ex-President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, and Buyoya are widely suspected to have been involved.

Early in the morning on 21 October 1993 army units took up positions around Bujumbura and mounted an attack on the presidential palace. After several hours Ndadaye was captured and taken to a military camp where he was murdered. The putschists also targeted key FRODEBU leaders, killing President of the National Assembly Pontien Karibwami, Vice President of the National Assembly Gilles Bimazubute, Minister of Home Affairs and Communal Development Juvénal Ndayikeza, and Director of Intelligence Richard Ndikumwami. The deaths of Karibwami and Bimazubute eliminated the constitutional line of presidential succession. Other government figures, including Kinigi, survived by fleeing or seeking shelter at the French embassy. Later that day the army formed a crisis committee and presented Ngeze as the new President of Burundi. The announcement of Ndadaye's death touched off severe ethnic violence, as angered Hutu peasants and FRODEBU members began murdering Tutsis. The army retaliated by massacring Hutus. The international community and civil society organisations condemned the coup and requested a return to constitutional governance. Faced with these challenges, in the afternoon of 23 October Bikomagu ordered the army to return to its barracks, and two days later Kinigi's government announced the abrogation of all emergency measures declared by the putschists.

The coup attempt left Prime Minister Kinigi—the highest-ranking civilian official to survive—the de facto head of state of Burundi. Civilian institutions of government were reestablished in earnest in December. Attempts by the National Assembly to elect a successor to Ndadaye were stifled by the Tutsi-dominated Constitutional Court, though the body eventually succeed in selecting Cyprien Ntaryamira as President of Burundi in January 1994. Ntaryamira died in April and was succeeded by Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, while ethnic violence persisted and UPRONA pushed demands for more favorable constitutional arrangements. Frustrated by this turn of events, some FRODEBU elements broke away from the party and formed rebel groups, leading to the Burundian Civil War.